An alleged man-made mistake in diverting the course of water continues to haunt Gollapalem, an artificial island in Krithivennu mandal of Krishna district.
Nestled between Bhimavaram canal and the Bay of Bengal, the island has lost a few hundred acres of soil along the four-kilometre shoreline over the past decade due to erosion. Of the total 4,140 acres that was under cultivation of coconut and casuarina, several acres of land has got washed away into the sea. The population of the island is about 8,300.
The residents dug a canal at Padatadika hamlet in the early 1970s, diverting the course of water into the Bay of Bengal from Bhimavaram canal. Post tsunami, the width of the canal has increased and this has resulted in deposition of sediment (clay) in Bhimavaram canal.
“A man-made effort such as diversion of the natural course of water flow is possibly one of the strong reasons for soil erosion along the shore. The wave height at such locations is normally high. It is time to go for constant study to prevent the erosion,” opined Professor K.V.S.R. Prasad, Head, Department of Meteorology and Oceanography, Andhra University. Prof. Prasad is Principal Investigator of the Space Applications Centre’s (Ahmedabad) research on ‘Coastal Processes responsible for the coastal erosion along the east coast of India.’
“The rate of erosion is normally much higher post-depression in the Bay of Bengal”, Prof. Prasad told The Hindu over phone.
Residents in jitters
Residents of the island told The Hindu that a huge quantity of the soil has been washed into the sea since 2015, uprooting hundreds of coconut trees and casuarina plants.
“Several coconut and date palm trees have been uprooted in recent months. Last week’s depression too took its toll on the trees,” said Kopanthi Naresh, a student.
A row of coconut trees fell on shore while many got washed into the sea, presenting a devastating picture of nature’s fury.